Lorenzo excited for new experience at Motorland Aragon
The MotoGP paddock heads to ‘Motorland’ Aragon this weekend for its last European stop before the triple-leg overseas tour later this month. The Spanish track is a new addition to the calendar and both championship leader Jorge Lorenzo and reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi are looking forward to getting to the grips with what is known as a spectacular racing circuit.
This will be 23-year-old Lorenzo’s third race on home soil this season and, with wins already chalked up at Jerez and Barcelona, the championship leader is eager to get another chance to thrill the Spanish fans. He continues in the imperious form he has shown all season, having won or stood on the podium at every round and with his podium last time out in Misano his 30th since he began in MotoGP in 2008. Lorenzo spent a day testing a Yamaha road bike at Aragon last month in order to familiarise himself with the track and is excited about the challenge of racing there.
Aragon was drafted in as a replacement for the doomed Hungarian MotoGP round and will remain as a ‘reserve’ circuit for the MotoGP championship for the next five years. The track lies near the town of Alcaniz in northern Spain, a few hours drive from Barcelona. It was designed by Hermann Tillke and is well known to be an impressive track with spectacular elevation changes and fast, flowing corners. In order to give the riders adequate time to get to know the new track there will be four 45-minute practice sessions over Friday and Saturday instead of the usual three one hour-long ones.
Jorge Lorenzo: “It’s our third race in Spain but the first time at Aragon and I’m excited. I went to test there last month and it’s an amazing track. The first corner reminds me of Turkey and there’s a lot of up and down, it’s a fun place. I would like to do a great race and dedicate it to Tomizawa. I hope lots of people but especially my fan club are coming because I think it will be a good weekend. My aim is to get on the podium again and to push as hard as I can. We’re ready to start working.”
Wilco Zeelenberg: “It’s a great circuit and Jorge really loved it when we went there last month. It’s very hilly, which is always fun, and it has many different types of corners so it’s not too easy to learn but is an exciting challenge for the riders. Our target once again will be the podium and to keep working towards our target of the championship.”
Source: Fiat Yamaha